Six Time National Bodybuilding Champion
Success Coach
The Competitor Who Has the Highest Standards for What He Expects from Himself for the Longest Period of Time Will Win (All Other Factors Being Equal)One of the toughest challenges of contest preparation is to keep driving yourself to a higher level throughout the entire journey. It's easy to become a little complacent when you know you are already working extremely hard and looking really good. This is especially true when you are clearly head and shoulders above the rest of your friends and acquaintances (both inside and outside of the gym) in terms of dedication, discipline, and physical development.
"You are looking great! You are going to do really well!" or "Wow! You must be pretty close to being ready for your contest, aren't you? How much longer do you have to go?" are probably just a fraction of the positive feedback being said to you at this time. Although their words are encouraging and make you feel good, you can't buy into the hype. I willing to bet that every competitor who will step onstage with you at your upcoming contest is being showered with those very same complimentary comments as you read this paragraph.
As Bill Bradley, the former New York Knicks basketball star and New Jersey state senator, used to say, "There is always someone out there working harder than you are." Those words prevented him from getting too full of himself and kept him always striving for a higher level of dedication. I have reflected upon his words as I've prepared for my bodybuilding contests over the years.
No matter how hard you are working to prepare for your contest, there's always a higher level of work, dedication, discipline, and follow through that you can execute. There's always one more rep you can pump out; five more pounds you can lift; one more calorie you can burn or one-tenth of a mile more you can travel during your cardiovascular training session; at least another meal you can eat exactly on time; or a few more minutes you can spend perfecting your posing.
But you will not strive for that higher level until you first do two things. The first thing you must do is realize that you can indeed work even harder and secondly, you must specifically identify exactly what is the higher level you are shooting for.
Look, it's no threat to your ego having to admit that you can become even better at preparing for your show. Doing so doesn't take away from anything you have already done up until this point in time. You just want to build upon what you've been doing until this point-in-time. As the saying goes "The tougher you are on yourself now, the easier life will become in the future." You might as well be extremely tough on yourself now when you have time to make adjustments. That's a heck of a lot better than wishing you would have done more the day after your contest, isn't it? The pain you put yourself through now will lead to more pleasure for you to enjoy later.
Identify exactly what you must do to take yourself to the next level. This is where setting goals at the beginning of your day and week--and then assessing what you have and have not accomplished at the end of each day and week really augment your efforts.
How has your weight training been going--really? Have you missed any cardio sessions lately? Are you following through with your "Daily Disciplines" or are you rationalizing your lack of follow through by telling yourself "I'm ahead of schedule" or "I have plenty of time left to get ready for my show"? Be honest with yourself. This is not the time to tell yourself stories to avoid short-term pain or disappointment.
Believe me, the gut-wrenching pain of falling short of being your best after your contest is over is far more painful than the benign pain of admitting to yourself now that your efforts can be tightened up a little.
